The present invention relates to a holding arrangement for at least two electrical connection elements, such as cable lugs, for example, which each have an electrical connection section and a line section.
In addition, the present invention relates to a fitting apparatus for equipping such a holding arrangement and to a method for installing a ground contact between a ground bolt, which is attached to a mount such as a metal sheet, and at least one cable lug. The method for installing the ground contact should in this case preferably be carried out using a holding arrangement of the type mentioned above.
In general, the present invention is concerned with the field of so-called ground contacts, as are in widespread use in particular in motor vehicle technology. In order to install a stable ground contact, a bolt or a nut is welded onto a metal sheet of a vehicle chassis, so that the bolt or the nut is electrically conductively connected to the metal sheet. Then, a connection part such as a cable lug is electrically connected to the bolt or to the nut by a nut being screwed onto the bolt or a screw being screwed into the nut.
It is often necessary to attach a plurality of cable lugs to one ground bolt. The fitting complexity involved here is relatively great. In addition, there is the risk of a cable lug of a cable harness, which is supplied by a cable harness manufacturer, being forgotten during the final fitting on the ground bolt. It is known from the prior art to combine the cable lugs of a cable harness, with which contact is to be made on a single ground bolt, in a holding arrangement as early as when the cable harness is produced. For example, document EP 0 895 305 A1 has disclosed such a holding arrangement, which has a cylindrical cage and a press-on element, which is axially prestressed by means of a spring in the cage. The cable lugs are inserted from above at an angle between an axial inner side of the cage and the press-on disc in such a way that the line sections of the cable lugs protrude out of radial openings. The production of such a holding arrangement is comparatively complex, however.
Document DE 10 2004 054 782 B3 proposes a fitting preparation system for fitting cable lugs on a bolt. The fitting preparation system contains a distribution box, in which connection tongues of the cable lugs are inserted. In addition, a fitting aid is temporarily connected to the distribution box, which fitting aid has a protruding centering element. In terms of cross section, the centering element corresponds to the cross section of the ground bolt and thereby centers the cable lugs by the centering element passing through the connection openings of the cable lugs. When this holding arrangement is fitted on the ground bolt, the fitting aid is pushed out by means of the bolt and is then disposed of.